Colorado River vs Colorado lawsuit dismissed

A federal court this afternoon dismissed the lawsuit Colorado River versus the state of Colorado.

The state’s Attorney General’s office had threatened Jason Flores Williams, the attorney in the suit, with sanctions that could have ranged from censure to disbarment unless he withdrew the suit, saying that the suit had no legal basis. The suit hinged on asserting the Rights of Nature, a relatively new concept in Colorado courts.

Friday was the deadline given to Flores Williams to withdraw the suit. While protestors gathered outside a Denver courthouse, the attorney general’s office filed another motion for the courts to dismiss the case.

Over the weekend Flores Williams withdrew the suit and the court dismissed the case on Monday afternoon.

Flores Williams says today that while the lawsuit has been dismissed, the movement around the rights of nature that has emerged as a result of the suit will live on. “The Rights of Nature is a movement of the people, that’s what it’s about and that’s what happened here. So there has been some loss, the court…it was dismissed, but the victory begun by Deep Green Resistance is to launch a movement on the streets.”